Banana-peeler and method of peeling bananas.



W. L. RATHBUN. I BANANA PEELER AND METHOD 6F FEELING BANANAS. APPLICATION FILED our. 6. 1913.

Patented June 15, 1915.

, To all whom it Mai] concern;

ing bananas, a primary object of the inven- I tin arana QFFXQE;

WILLIAM L. RATHBITN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR 'I'Q PANAMA BANANA F001) COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

Banana-Prawn AND METHOD on mar ne BANANAS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed. October 6, 1913. Serial No. 793,667.

Be it known that I, WILLIAM L. Rn'r muiv, a citizen of the United States, residlng at New York city, in the county of New York and State of New York,-have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Banana Peelers and Methods of Peeling Bananas, of which the following is a specification. i

This invention relates to devices for peeltion being to provide a simple and compact device, adapted to be operated either by hand or by power, and capable of rapidly separating the flesh of the banana from the skin. The invention contemplates also a method of peeling bananas.

A device constructed in accordance with my invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein-- Figure l 'is a central vertical section of a preferred construction; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section on line IIII of Fig.1; and Fig. 3 is a fragmentary face-view of the 2 5 lower perforated roll.

In said drawings, 1 represents an upper smooth roll of sheet metal, mounted in bearings 2 carried by an appropriate framework 3, The roll 1 is fixed upon the central shaft 4:, and may be driven by means of a pulley 5 or by equivalent means, or by hand. The

1 roll 1 is provided at each end with circumferential racksG, 6, the teeth of which mesh with the teeth of like racks 7, 7 at, each end of the lower roll 8, in such manner that-the two rolls rotate together in the direction indicated by the arrows in Fig. 1; The lower roll 8 rotates freely in appropriate bearings upon fixed stub-shafts 9, 9, carried by the frame 3. The lower roll 8'is of sheet metal, and is perforated over that portion of its area which is designed to receive the bananas to be peeled. The perforations, indicated at 10, are preferably rectangular, approximately one-half inch square and are so formed that the metal webs between the apertures present outwardly directed cutting edges 11, as and 3.

Inside of the lower perforated roll 8, and rigidly mounted on a frame 12 carriedby the fixedstub-shafts 9, 9 is a hopper-shaped sheet-metal chute 13, formed to receive the flesh of the bananas and to discharge it through large openings 14 disposed near perforated roll clearly shown in Figs. 1

' apart Patented June is, was.

and 17 a discharge chute for the skins, the,

chute 17 being provided with a scraper'edge l8 bearing against the exterior face of the 8. r n X The rolls 1 and, 8 are shown as mounted out of actual contact with each other, and as 1 separated by a space corresponding substantially to the thickness of the skln of theinch.

Inasmuch as steel and iron have a tendency to darken the flesh of the banana, all metal parts of the apparatus which come in contact with the flesh, including the lower roll 8 and the scraper blade 15, are either banana, or approximately one-eighth of an plated with silver or constructed of aluminum or are dtherwise formed to present surfaces which are non-injurious to the flesh.

The operation of the apparatus described is as follows: The bananas are cut lengthwise, by hand or by any suitable mechanism, and the halves are fed, flesh side downward, between the spaced rolls 1 and 8. Under the pressure exerted by the upper roll the flesh is forced against the cutting edges 11 and through the perforations 10, and is detached from the skin by the blade 15, and

discharged into the hopper 13, falling thence into any proper receptacle. The skin's pass between the rolls and fall into the discharge chute-17. The use of a lower perforated roll having outwardly directed cutting edges is highly advantageous, in that it avoids bruising the comparatively firm flesh of the banana, and particularly the flesh of the fruit which is not fully ripe The term cutting edges is employed in the claims to designate any construction of the lower roll which will enable the flesh of the banana to be forced through the same without bruising .or injury, it being of courseessential that extended cylindrical surfaces such as would crush or bruise the flesh should be avoided.

While the upper and lower rolls are in my preferred construction definitely spaced to avoid such pressure upon the skins as would result in cutting them, practicable under certain conditions at least for a resilient mounting adjusted to accomplish the above result. Otherforms of moving surface, as a belt or apron, are to be regarded as equivalent to a roll for the purposes of this invention, and any means for exerting-the proper degree of pressure to force the flesh through the perforations may be substituted for the upper'roll.

I claim 1. A banana peeler, comprising adjacen movable elements and means for feeding the cut or sliced fruit between said elements, one ofsaid elements having an area presenting apertures separated only by cutting edges, the other of said elements constructed and arranged to force the flesh of the fruit against and past said cutting edges, in combination with means located on theopposlte side of said apertured area for removing the flesh therefrom 2. A banana peeler, comprising adjacent drums, means for rotating said drums, and for feeding the cut or sliced fruit between them, one of said drums having an area presenting apertures separated only by cutting edges, the other of said drums con-- structed and arranged to force the flesh of the fruit against and past said cutting edges, in combination with means located on the opposite side of said apertured area for removing the flesh therefrom.

3. A method of peeling bananas, consistin presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM L. RATHBUN. Witnesses: p

R. A. BAKER, FRANK HAMMOND. 

